Every Other Man
by Jen K
Summary: Lex Luthor has tapped the phone of his exgirlfriend, Lana Lang, but discovers more than he bargained for.


Based on the animated series. This takes place 2 years after the events in My Girl.

It was three am and Lex Luthor was alone in his office. Sleep was a sign of weakness. Why waste time sleeping when there was always more money and power to be had. He had taken break from his work on his latest business venture, an under the table arms deal. Lex knew that for everything to go smoothly, to imagine every possibility, one needed to occasionally step back, take a break and reexamine the plan with fresh eyes.

And so Lex turned his attention to another past time, which was an exercise of power in its own right. On his desk before him lay the countless transcripts of the personal phone calls of Lana Lang. He had her phone tapped days before their first date, as he did with all his girlfriends and female "acquaintances".

Lana was different, though. During their relationship, he actually began to feel guilty for eavesdropping. And guilt was not a feeling Lex was used to. As they got more serious, he had stopped spying on her. He began to trust her. He began falling in love with her.

But then, that fateful night, he caught her doing something unforgivable. Mercy was suspicious of Lana, and when Lex refused to spy on her, Mercy forced him to. And he caught her kissing Superman.

How could she! His mortal enemy! He'd never even seen the boy in blue kiss a woman before, not even Lois who he seemed so fond of. Lex had always thought that was against his righteous code. He'd never thought Superman capable of desire, of the human needs for touch. He was an alien what would he want with a mortal woman and if he so desired one, why wouldn't he make it known? Every woman would be at his feet. Lex thought he had Superman pegged- he was god-like being who derived self-satisfaction from his superiority over the human race. Before that moment, he'd never seen him give in to temptation.

It was not a pure kiss. It was long and passionate and it was heartwrenching to watch. As furious Lex was at Lana's betrayal, it only made him love her more. A woman capable of such treachery, a woman who desired only the most powerful of men, a woman who could corrupt the incorruptible- this was his kind of woman. He obviously had to put out a hit for her, because that was what he did to those who betrayed him and he couldn't show Lana any favoritism. She survived, of course. Superman rescued her. Lex could have tried to kill her again, but he didn't have the heart. No, one attempt on her life was enough.

Afterwards, Lex continued to monitor her phone calls. He had his people type them up and highlight any suspicious activity. So far there'd been no more mention of Superman. She'd gone to Paris for a while and he monitored her over there as well, but there was nothing unusual. She had recently returned to Metropolis and released a new clothing line. Her name was all over the papers and Lex's feelings for her had reemerged as well.

So here he was, reading into her personal life. He wasn't sure why, perhaps he wanted to see if she talked about other men, or about one super man in particular. Or perhaps he wanted to find something else to hold against her, to blackmail her with, to hurt her the way she had hurt him. Or perhaps it was because when he read them he felt close to her again.

He was about to put the transcripts away, to resume his work on the arms deal, when something caught his eye.

"Hello?"

"Clark! I was so worried about you. I read the papers about the attack from that maniac, what's his name?"

"Metallo. That's what he's calling himself."

"You were missing for a few days and people were saying you were dead. I couldn't reach you. I even called your parents. You're alright aren't you?"

"I'm fine now, Lana."

"What happened? You'll have to tell me all about it."

"Not over the phone."

"OK. I could come over…or you could fly on over to my apartment. You know you're always welcome. I can leave the window open."

"Lana!"

"I know, I know. Can't blame a girl for trying. Could I still come over? I really do want to hear about it."

"Sure. I'd love to catch up. And there are few other things I wouldn't mind talking to you about."

"That's usually code for trouble with Lois."

"You know me too well."

"OK. I'll see you in 20 minutes. You know it'd be quicker if you came over here."

"Lana…"

"Just kidding. See you soon. Bye."

This caught Lex's attention. Recently Metallo, a pet project of his that had gone awry, had publicly attacked Superman and no one had seen him for days. Rumors had spread about Superman's death. The date corresponding to the phone call was a few days after the incident. Several civilians had been injured in the attack as well which could explain the phone call.

But then there was the word "fly" and the phrase "I can leave the window open". It was suspicious; it was almost as if…She was talking to Superman.

Lex flipped through the pages of the transcripts looking for other calls to Clark Kent. And it wasn't obvious, not something you would immediately notice, but there were several other subtle indications that Lana was actually talking to Superman.

"Oh my god!" Lex said aloud. He'd remember doing a brief background check on Clark Kent. Lana seemed to call him a lot. The name had been familiar to Lex, he knew that he was a reporter for the Daily Planet but didn't know much else. He had his people do a brief background check on Clark and he'd discovered that he'd gone to high school with Lana. Apparently they dated a while back then but were now just friends. This seemed to explain the frequent phone calls. Lex hadn't given it much more thought until now.

He couldn't believe what this might mean. He'd never thought that Superman might walk amongst them, pretend to pass as human. Why would someone try to hide such power? He laughed at the thought of Superman having a job, paying bills, or taking the garbage out.

This was too good to be true. There had to be some other explanation. He searched online for a picture of Clark Kent. Surprisingly none came up. For someone who worked for the papers, he did a very good job of keeping his picture out of them. That only heightened Lex's suspicion. Lex had access to other more "privileged" search engines. And then a picture came up, with Clark Kent standing next to Lois Lane, reporting some newsworthy event. He looked closely at the picture. It wasn't obvious. If you weren't looking for it you'd never notice it. That's the thing, no one ever looks for it. Why would Superman pretend to be human?

He needed to know everything. He'd always thought that Superman was sent to Earth fully grown. No, he had a childhood. He grew up on a farm and had a family, with parents he still visits. Lex read more of his phone calls with Lana. Oh, how quaint. He loves root beer floats. This was just too perfect.

And as he flipped through he learned more, like that he was hopelessly in love with Lois Lane but she didn't know the truth about him. How deliciously hilarious! The transcript read:

"But she does love you, Clark! You should just tell her."

"She's in love with the legend. I want her to fall for the real me, for Clark."

I'm beginning to see the real you, Superman. Oh, the power I have gained tonight. To think, all the time I spent working on a way to weaponize kryptonite. Now I have the real key to your mortality. Because that's all I ever wanted, to make you vulnerable like every other man and now I see how easily that can be done.

Author's Note: This was fun to write. Hopefully I'll have the time to update some of my other stories as well. I've been putting that off. Also, I'd love to have a beta reader for my work if anyone is interested.


End file.
